News – Bereavement sector re. COVID-19

June 2 – Ontario Government – Declaration of Emergency extended to June 30 In consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, Ontario is extending the provincial Declaration of Emergency to June 30. The decision supports the government’s efforts to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak and protect the health and safety of Ontarians as the province reopens in a measured and responsible way. The extension, under s.7.0.7 of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, was approved by the Ontario legislature earlier today. More

May 6 – Toronto Star – PPE fees for cost recovery only “Use of PPE or any other COVID fee must be itemized for families to see and understand,” said (the BAO’s David) Brazeau. “Funeral homes and transfer services did not previously have a standard way of showing this in contracts with consumers. The notice we issued provides them with a standard way of doing this.” More

April 27 – Maclean’s – How grieving has changed during coronavirus: A funeral director’s experience …All churches have since been closed and the Bereavement Authority of Ontario has instructed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, all funeral activities, whether inside a funeral home or outside at a cemetery, are now limited to 10 people in total. In Nova Scotia, the maximum is five people. In Newfoundland, because they can trace most of the province’s COVID-19 cases to a funeral visitation that happened in March, the chief medical officer of health ordered a complete provincial ban on funerals and wakes. More

April 21 – CBC – Coroner orders sweeping changes to avoid ‘sad scenes’ like those in Italy, U.S. Ontario’s chief coroner says the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing his office to make major changes to how hospitals and funeral homes deal with the dead…(Dr. Dirk) Huyer said the goal is to move “everything more quickly” as the coronavirus continues to reap its deadly toll in the province’s hospitals and nursing homes…”We are not going to see the scenes that we’ve seen in Italy, or in the United States, in other parts of the world, where loved ones, the bodies of loved ones, are in essence being stockpiled in arenas and community centres and so on. And that’s not going to happen here because of the proactive measures we’ve put in place,” (the BAO’s) Brazeau said. More

April 15 – Ottawa Sun – Crematoriums ordered to be ready to run ‘all day, every day’The Bereavement Authority of Ontario, the agency that licenses and regulates funeral homes, crematoriums and cemeteries, issued the directive earlier this month as part of its wide-ranging response to COVID-19. “All crematoriums in Ontario must be ready to operate all day, every day, seven days a week,” said the order signed by bereavement authority chief executive Carey Smith. More

April 14 – Ontario Government –Declaration of Emergency extended to May 12The extension of the provincial declaration of emergency allows Ontario to continue to enforce current emergency orders, such as the closure of all non-essential workplaces, outdoor amenities such as parks and recreational areas, public places and bars and restaurants, as well as restrictions on social gatherings of more than five people, and prohibitions against price-gouging. More

April 13 – Ontario Government –Ontario Secures Critical Medical Equipment & SuppliesThe Ontario government continues to ensure that patients, frontline health care workers and first responders have the critical equipment and supplies they need to protect themselves during the COVID-19 outbreak. Over the last five days, more than 13 million surgical and procedural masks, 200,000 N95 respirator masks, and 38 ventilators have been delivered to Ontario’s pandemic stockpile warehouses. More

April 11 – Ontario Government –Province Extends Emergency Orders until April 23 To help stop the spread of COVID-19 and protect the health and safety of people across the province, the Ontario government has extended all emergency orders that have been put in place… Prohibition 1. Subject to subsection (3), no person shall attend,(a) an organized public event of more than five people, including a parade; (b) a social gathering of more than five people; or (c) a gathering of more than five people for the purposes of conducting religious services, rites or ceremonies…Subsection (1) does not apply to the following: A gathering of members of a single household.A gathering for the purposes of a funeral service that is attended by not more than 10 persons. O. Reg. 99/20, s. 3. More

April 10 – The Globe and Mail –‘Plan for the worst and hope for the best’: Canada’s funeral industryContingency plans are being made across the country to avoid the fate of places like New York, where mass graves on public land are being considered to accommodate the deceased…David Brazeau, the communications manager with the Bereavement Authority of Ontario, said that’s not going to happen in the province, because the industry has been taking steps to avoid this for weeks…Families are being encouraged to proceed with disposition, meaning burials or cremation, as soon as possible. More

Worth repeating

March 22 – The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) in the US provides this advice concerning funerals for people who have died following COVID-19: – You can still have a funeral or visitation. – Bodies can be embalmed using proper PPE. – Decedents can be buried or cremated. Read more from the NFDA here.

April 27, 2020 – All COVID-19 restrictions and BAO Registrar’s Directives remain in place, until further notice, during the Government of Ontario’s phased framework for reopening the province. The 10-max rule at funeral homes, and all directives, are still in place.

Key points • The health and well-being of Ontarians is our government’s top priority.• To help ensure the safety of Ontarians, the government has taken the advice of the province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health and prohibited public gatherings of more than five people.• Funerals are permitted to proceed with up to 10 people at one time.• The Registrar of the Bereavement Authority of Ontario (BAO), the administrative authority responsible for regulating bereavement service providers, has released Directives requiring funeral establishments to:– Limit the number of individuals in the entire funeral home to a maximum of 10 people at one time (not including staff); and– Further limit this number to less than 10 people at one time if the funeral home cannot allow people to maintain physical distancing of at least two metres (six feet) apart from each other at all times.• For information on the BAO’s recommendations to the bereavement sector relating to the impacts of COVID-19, please visit our website.• On April 27, 2020, the government released “A Framework for Reopening our Province”, which lays out the government’s approach to the next chapter in the ongoing fight to defeat COVID-19.• This document sets out certain conditions which must be met before the government takes steps to responsibly lift public health measures and restart the economy.• Until further notice is provided by the province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health and the BAO, the existing restrictions on the number of people who may attend funerals remain in place.